Skid Row Beginnings
by showtunediva
Summary: This fic is a prolouge to  Little Shop. It focusses on each of the main characters and touches a little bit on their lives prior to the musical. I don't own rights to any LSOH characters. Reworking chapter 4. Updated version will be posted soom.
1. Skid Row Home For Boys

**Skid Row Beginnings**

**A Little Shop of Horrors Prolouge**

**Chapter 1: Skid Row Home For Boys**

A/N: Every wondered what happens before the events of Little Shop? This story has one shots of all the characters from Little Shop and will briefly touch on Audrey and Orin's relationship. I haven't written any fics about Orin so I am trying to slowly get used to writing about his character before I work on my collaborative piece with HermoineLennon. The first chapter focuses on Seymour and is a draft for a chapter that I was going to use to another fic. Seymour's friends Alan and Nicholas and the orphanage headmaster are my own creation. Alan reappears as an adult in my fic **Epilouge To The Three Matchmakers. ** **Disclaimer: I do not own rights to any settings or characters from Little Shop**

Skid Row was in a really bad part of Lower Manhattan. A part of town ravaged by crime and drug use, the drop out rate was also abnormally high drop out rate. At one side of town there was an all boys orphanage. Many boys who were residents were in living situations that had been split apart by these types of issues. Unlike his fellow orphanage mates Seymour Krelborne had been abandoned at birth and had no knowledge of the reasons behind why he was left there or who his parents even were. It was quite an unfortunate circumstance.

Seymour constantly prayed for a better life. Even more so then his friends who he knew had knowledge of better life previous to being at the orphanage.

One night lying awake in bed Seymour was talking to his best friends Alan and Nicholas on either side of him. They were his best friends at the orphanage and were becoming more and more like the brothers to him.

"Do you guys ever wish you knew what your parents were like?"

Alan nodded in agreement. " I often wonder what my mom looked like. I bet she was pretty."

Seymour smiled and thought to himself. 'I hope my mom was really pretty too and that someday I might met a girl that's just as pretty as I picture her to be'

"Do you guys ever think we'll get out of this crummy place?" Alan asked

"I hope we eventually do. I would love to get out of this part of town… someday." Nicholas said wistfully.

Seymour nodded. "That's my biggest hope. That I get out of this orphanage and get adopted by a nice family. Start a whole new life."

"Boys, it's lights out. Time to be quiet." Said Mr. Lawson the headmaster of the orphanage.

And so the three boys drifted of to sleep.. dreaming as they often did of a better life.

Little did Seymour know that his wish would soon come true.

At 11:30am the next morning Mr. Mushnik the owner of the flower shop down the street from the orphanage stepped in to the orphanage. He was on a mission to find a boy to adopt who could be an apprentice at his flowershop and as he would mature become a full time employee.

Hattie, the secetary was a frequent customer of the flower shop and greeted Mr. Mushnik warmly.

"Good Morning Mr. Mushnik. How can I help you today?

"Hello Hattie. I'm here to look into adopting a boy from this place."

"Any specific age?"

"Between 11-15. I'm looking for someone to apprentice me in the shop who I will eventually pay as a full time employee as he gets older."

"Okay, I will page the headmaster and he'll come show you around."

The headmaster was down to the office in no time.

"Hello Mr. Mushnik. I'm Mr. Lawson. Let me show around the place so you can observe the boys and how they interact with each other."

Mr. Mushnik followed the headmaster down the hallway to the cafeteria where the children were eating their lunch.

"Boys, we have a visitor. This is Mr. Mushnik from the flower shop down the street. Please say hello."

"Hello Mr. Mushnik." The boys said in unison.

"Mr. Mushnik is looking to adopt someone so he can have an apprentice at his flower shop. Be on your best behavior as he observes your interactions."  
"Yes sir." Another in unison reply.

Mr. Mushnik walked up and down the aisles of lunch tables taking mental notes of each boy's behaviors. He stopped at Seymour's table and paid careful attention to Seymour who was helping to collect the trash at the table and interacting with the rest of the people at his table as he helped to clean up.

'Excellent. Just the kind of person I want to work at my store.' He thought to himself.

He walked back over to the headmaster.

"I would like the boy in the plaid shirt with the glasses in the table at the back of the room."

"Seymour Krelborne?"

"Yes. Seymour would be a perfect person for me to shape in to a quality employee at my store."

"You've made a great choice. Mr. Mushnik. Seymour is one of our most caring and considerate residents. He's a good friend to everyone and very helpful."

"Fantastic. Where is the paper work I need to sign?"

"For now you can just take him and get him settled. Seymour was a foundling and we have had the hardest time tracking down his birth parents. We don't know if they are still alive."

"And I'll get the paper work eventually?"

"I'll send it to you as soon as possible."

"Fabulous. Call Seymour over here please."

"Seymour Krelborne, come over here please"

The room was silent. The question was lingering in the air. Was Seymour in trouble? If he was it would be a first for him. He was never in trouble.

Seymour went up to the headmaster and Mr. Mushnik

"Yes sir?" he asked

"Seymour come with us. We want to talk to you in private." The headmaster said

"Yes sir." Seymour said and the three left the cafeteria and went to a private area of the hallway.

"Seymour, Mr. Mushnik wants to adopt you."

"Adopt me? Really?" Seymour was shocked at what he was hearing.

Mr. Mushnik smiled. "Yes my boy. I want to adopt you. I think you would be a fabulous asset to helping me in my store."

"Seymour. Go to your room and start packing. Mr. Mushnik will be back later to come pick you up."

"Yes sir." Seymour was grinning from ear to ear as he walked off down the hall to his room to go back.

When the bell rang singling the end of lunch Alan and Nicholas were in the bed room getting stuff read to study with their tutor when they noticed Seymour packing his suitcase.

"Hey buddy, what's with the bag you're packing? You leaving us?" Nicholas asked.

Seymour grinned. "Yeah. Mr. Mushnik is adoptin' me. I'm finally getting out of here."

Alan and Nicholas were happy for their friend yet sad at the same exact moment.

"We're gonna miss you Seymour." Alan said

"I'll miss you too but I'm not that far away you guys can always come visit me at the store." Seymour said

"Still it won't be the same. I'll miss the late night chats." Said Alan

Seymour got up and put an arm around both of his best friends's shoulders.

"Just think I'll be getting out of here and getting a chance at the life we've been talking about every night. Some day you'll get the same chance too."


	2. Mama's  Boy

**Skid Row Beginnings**

**Chapter 2: Momma's Boy**

From day one Orin Scrivello was a mama's boy. He was born a crisp fall day in Skid Row Hospital in 1957. His mother paid attention to him and spoiled him. His father was missing in action most of the time and whenever he was around he was in a drunken stupor and grew somewhat abusive. When Orin was an infant he was acutely aware of the violence but was too young to understand what was going on. Little did he know that his family situation would have an affect on he would treat women when he was older.

Orin had a somewhat strange attraction to dentistry. His mother and the rest of his family could not seem to figure out what interested him but something intrigued him about it. His ears perked up whenever he heard someone scream with pain. Mrs. Scrivello sometimes wondered if he related those screams to the screams he heard while she was being abused by her father.

He was definitely a trouble maker constantly in trouble with his teachers. Somehow he managed to get his GED by age 16 and then study to be a dentist and open his own office by age 20 not far from the orphanage where Seymour was brought up. A rebel without a cause… would he ever find true love and be happy?


	3. Uptown To The Slums

**Skid Row Beginnings**

**Chapter 3 **

**From Uptown to the Slums**

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own the rights to any LSOH characters. Audrey's parents and sisters are characters of my own creation. Audrey's sisters and father also appear in my fic **Epilouge To The Three Matchmakers.**

Unlike Seymour and Orin, Audrey Fullerton did not start her life on Skid Row. She actually came from a well to do family that lived on Long Island. Her story however is just as sad as Seymour's as far as living situation.

Audrey was born to two parents Richard and Marietta Fullerton in April 1948. Richard had a pretty good job as an accountant but somewhere along the line Marietta developed an alcohol addiction. When she was pregnant she stopped drinking so nothing would affect the health of the baby but in between pregnancies she would consistently drink Audrey would then become an older sister to Darlene born in 1951 and Debbie born in 1953. Audrey was observant of her mother's actions and vowed to be a good role model for her sisters. Because of her alcoholism Marietta could not hold down a steady job. This put unlimited stress on Richard being the breadwinner

One night in late March Marietta came home from a night on the town in a drunken rage. She was throwing things all over the living room and broke four plates out of the kitchen cabinet. She also became violent and started to kick and punch her husband. This would happen on several occasions and it came to a point where Richard was ready to leave his wife. This happened when Audrey was 7 and Debbie and Darlene were 5 and 3. It was a very scary time and Audrey was afraid that her father was going to put her and her sisters up for adoption. Richard considered doing that but could never live with not seeing his girls to grow up to have the lives they deserved to have.

Audrey felt very unsafe around her mother and could never be sure when a good time to talk to her was because of her random mood swings. This made her relationship with her very hard and she began to trust her dad more as a confidante. Her father was always supportive of her while her mom was constantly putting her and her sister down and verbally abusing her and sisters.

Audrey dropped out of school at age 16 and moved to Skid Row to live on her own. She couldn't stand living and her house anymore. She couldn't stand to leave her sisters alone to deal with how cruel her mother was to them but knew she had instilled strength in them that her mother had never instilled in her.

It was a very emotionally day when Audrey moved out.

"Bye Daddy. Bye girls . I promise I'll write."

Audrey's sisters were in tears

"Take us with you. We don't wanna stay here."

"You have Daddy to take care of you. Be strong for each other. I'm not that far away and I'll visit."

Audrey's father gave her a strong hug.

"I love you baby girl. You're stronger then you think you are."

"I love you too Daddy."

Audrey then proceeded to get in the car and drove away to start her new life on Skid Row.

She was surprised to find an apartment as soon as she got into town. It was right next to flower shop that had a sign that said in bright letters Mushnik's Skid Row Florists. The building did not look quite as run down as the other buildings she had seen while driving around town. 'I hope they're hiring over there… I need to find a good paying job.' She thought to herself

The apartment had just been vacated by people who had moved to a bigger place on the other side of town. It wasn't bad for a fixer upper and the rent wasn't too bad either. Hopefully she'd be able to find a good job in order to pay her bills.

There was a knock at her door. A black girl about her age peered tentatively inside.

"Hi, I'm Ronnette. I live in the building down the block with my friends Crystal and Chiffon. Do you need help unpacking?"

Audrey was lucky to get such a good first impression of the people on Skid Row. Hopefully other people around here would be just as nice.

"Hi Ronette. I'm Audrey. It's nice to meet you. I would love some help unpacking."

"Okay, I'll be right back let me go get them."

As quickly as Ronette left she reappeared with the two other girls in tow. The four immediately got to work unpacking Audrey's endless amount of boxes.

"You look like you come from some ritzy place up town. What brings you here?" Crystal asked

"I come from Long Island. My mom's an alcoholic and she's very physically and verbally abusive. I couldn't stand living in my house. I had to get out."

"Was leaving the rest of your family hard?" Chiffon asked.

"Yes. I have two little sisters who are 13 and 10. My departure was hard on them but I plan on visiting. Where do you guys work?"

"We sing at a local nightclub. We waitress there too." Ronette said

" I'll probably be looking for a job very soon. Do you know if they're hiring?"

"Luigi's isn't but The Gutter is. I wouldn't recommend that place. Sleaze balls hang out there but it's one of the only place that's really hiring right now." Crystal said

"What about the flower shop next door,they looking for people?" Audrey asked. She thought to herself 'I'll probably need two jobs just to pay the rent.'

"Not that I know of…." Crystal said but Ronnette interjected before she could finish her sentence.

"I saw a sign in the window two days ago.. Mr Mushnik said it's been up for 2 weeks and they've been unable to fill the position."

"What position do they have open?" Audrey was excited that she already knew of two job openings and was hoping to apply as soon as possible.

"Mr. Mushnik is looking for a second flower arrangement assistant and someone to manage the register. Our friend Seymour works there now but they are so behind on their inventory that they are desperate for an extra set of hands."

"I'll definitely look in to both places. Can you guys show me where The Gutter is?"

"Sure most definitely." Crystal said.


	4. What Led To An Obsession With Pain

**Skid Row Beginnings **

**Chapter 4**

**What Led To An Obsession With Pain**

**Inspired by the lyrics to the deleted song I Found a Hobby**

People may wonder what led Orin Scrivello to be as sadistic as he is. There is very little to speculate on. Despite the physical pain that his father inflicted on his mother he enjoyed seeing others wither in pain.

When he was ten years old an older brother of one of his friends snuck Orin, his friend Jake and four others into an R rated horror movie. He never told his mother that movie was R rated only that it was one of the best movies he ever saw. Perhaps because it showed a side that proved being harmful to others was okay.

There was a scene in the movie where the characters are led into a torture chamber. Jake and his other friends looked squeamish but not Orin. For him this was a sexual experience that no one would be able to understand except for him. He couldn't even tell his mother about.

This led him to be fascinated by other people's pain. When he opened his own dentist office at the age of 17 the thought of being to inflict pain on others gave him an orgasm. People were very suspicious of his practices but they thought he was such a good dentist that they rarely called him on it. While most dentist gave their patients Novocain for pain he was often found to get satisfaction out of other people's pain and to boot got a high from the nitrous oxide in the gas masks that his patients were supposed to be using.

The violence he experience in his home life would also have a negative effect on him much to his mother's disappointment. While she was proud of him for his hard work ethic as a dentist she was often concerned that the way her husband was so violent to her would bounce off to him and he would treat whatever girl he met the same way.

Orin met Audrey Fullerton at The Gutter the bar where he often went to unwind after work. Audrey was new to town and looked very shy and innocent and was a waitress at The Gutter. She was also hoping to get a job at Mushnik's Skid Row Florists a place where Orin rarely went. He wasn't all that interested in Botany.

"Hi there." Orin said

Hi, what can I get you to dreink?" Audrey asked

"Jack Daniels. What's your name pretty lady?"

"My name's Audrey. What's your name?"

"Orin."

"Nice to meet you Orin. I'll go get your drink."

Audrey disappeared into the musty shadows of The Gutter to the bar where the drink would be prepared.

When she returned Orin was quick to make the first move.

"You got a boyfriend?"

Audrey was shocked at this question from a guy she just met.

"No. I just moved here from Long Island three days ago. I don't know very many people."

"How would you like to go home with me?" Orin asked

Audrey was a little uncomfortable

"I just met you."

"We could get to know each other."

"Okay. My shift gets over at 9:30."

The first date was laid back and relaxed. It was after the third date that Audrey realized she had made a big mistake choosing to get involved with Orin. Weeks turned into months. Orin was rarely nice to her. He reminded her of how her mother treated her father when she was drunk. Did she really want a relationship like that? She wasn't sure. She did love Orin but did he really love her? This was her inner confliction and she wondered if she would ever meet a nice guy on Skid Row.


	5. Meeting Audrey

**Chapter 2**

**Meeting Audrey**

Seymour matured from a boy to a man and with Mr. Mushnik's guidance grew much knowledge of how to work in the flower shop and the various types of plants he tended to. Things were overwhelming and Mr. Mushnik decided they needed someone else to help them in the shop.

"Krelborne, do those three girls that hang out around the outside of the shop know anyone that may be a good employee?"

Seymour knew Mr. Mushnik was referring to his three friends Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon. "No, sir I don't but I can definitely check with them I will see them after work."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Mushnik smiled.

After work got done for the day Seymour walked down the street to Al Smederick's Diner to meet up with Crystal Ronette and Chiffon.

"We're looking for more help at the store. You guys interested?" Seymour asked

"Not sure if we are but we have a friend who is. We want to introduce her to ya." Chiffon said.

Chiffon and Crystal walked over with Seymour to their regular booth where Ronette was sitting with a blonde haired girl who looked about 5'9.

Seymour thought this girl was strikingly beautiful.

"Audrey, this is Seymour he works at the flower shop down the street." Ronette says

"Hi Audrey, it's nice to meet you." Seymour said extending his hand.

Audrey reached out her hand and shook "Nice to meet you too."

"Chiffon said you're looking for a job?"

"Yeah that's right. I work at the Gutter two nights a week as a waitress but I need a job with more substantial pay."

"Well you are in luck. We're hiring down at the shop. You're welcome to come in tomorrow and meet Mr. Mushnik."

"Definitely. What time would be good?"

"Around 1."

"Sounds good to me."

Seymour slid into the booth next to Crystal. "Great. We'll see you then."

The five friends ordered their food.

They next day at 1 o'clock the bell above the door tingled. Audrey walked in.. her heels clicking against the linoleum.

"Hello Audrey, I'm Gervais Mushnik. Seymour said you're interested in the position we're looking to fill."

"Yes sir, Mr. Mushnik."

"And how much do you know about plants?"

"Not a whole lot sir but I'm more than willing to learn."

Mr. Mushnik smiled. "Great. You're hired. Seymour will show you the ropes.

Audrey smiled at Seymour "Thank you Mr. Mushnik. I'm very grateful for this opportunity. I won't let either of you down."

As Seymour gave Audrey her orientation he noticed that she looked a little distant.

He touched her on the shoulder… she flinched. "Audrey, sorry to scare you but are you paying attention?"

Audrey snapped back to reality. "Yeah Seymour sorry. I'm just a little bit distracted."

"Why did your startle so much when I touched your shoulder?"

"Your touch was so gentle it surprised me."

Seymour thought that was an alarmingly strange statement.

"Why did it surprise you?"

"Well you see, I date this guy I work with at the Gutter Orin Scrivello."

I've heard of him he owns the dentist office up the street right?"

"Right and you see Seymour the reason why I am not used to a gentle touch like yours is because well… Orin can get pretty rough with me."

Seymour's jaw dropped.

"You mean he beats you up?"

"Yeah, he slaps me around and says all kind of nasty things. Things I can't repeat in a place like this where people are likely to bring in young children."

Seymour was mad that a sweet girl like Audrey had to put up with such abuse.

"Have you considered leaving him?"

"A couple times.. I just can't bring myself to follow through."

"How come?"

"I fear things could be worse if I leave him"

"Audrey, do you realize this relationship is not healthy for you?"

Audrey stared at the ground.

"Yeah, but as I told you. I'm afraid to leave him because what he might do to me if I do."

Seymour wanted to hold her in a embrace that he knew she would feel safe in.

"Have you thought of going to a counselor?"

"Do you think that might help?"

"Yeah, it could."

"I'll suggest it but he might not like the suggestion too much. I don' have a lot of say in what happens in the relationship. He's pretty controlling."

"Audrey for your own safety and sanity you need to get out of this relationship as soon as possible."

"I know.. I'm just so scared."


End file.
